Club Tropicana – The Musical

You guys know how much I love a night out at the theatre. So it will probably come as no surprise that last night my mum and I headed to The Theatre Royal in Nottingham for the opening night of Club Tropicana, the musical which takes you on a trip back to the electric 80s, where hair was big, shoulders were padded, and mobile phones weighed a tonne. Want to find out more? Then make sure you read on …

WHAT IS CLUB TROPICANA ABOUT?

Set to some of the most iconic pop anthems of the 80s, Club Tropicana is a musical comedy that will have you laughing from the very start. It tells the story of a young couple, Lorraine and Olly, who are due to get married – until Lorraine gets cold feet and calls off the wedding. Her friends decide not to let the honeymoon tickets go to waste and three of them head off to Spain. But, just like with all good farce’s, the groom’s best man and his mate have a similar plan, and they all head off to the same resort with plenty of chaos following them!

MY THOUGHTS ON CLUB TROPICANA

I’m not going to lie, as soon as I opened the programme and saw the cast for Club Tropicana I knew I was going to enjoy it as I’ve seen lots of them in other musicals. There’s Joe McElderry, who I saw in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Karina Hind and Cellen Chugg Jones, who were in American Idiot, Rebecca Mendoza who was in Hairspray, and Tara Verloop, who I saw in The Wedding Singer, to name just a few.

Mum and took our seats in the auditorium around ten minutes before the show started and there was already a buzz of excitement from the audience. Everyone was eager to find out just what Club Tropicana was about, and most people seemed to have bought tickets because of their love of 80s music. And I can understand why – the 80s were jam-packed with amazing hits!

At 7:30 pm the show started, and it’s here where we met Lorraine (Katrina Hind), the bride with cold feet and panda eyes. She’s not sure she wants to go through with marrying Olly (Cellen Chugg Jones), her beau. And it doesn’t take long for her jealous friend, Tracey (Rebecca Mendoza), to persuade her to phone him up and call the wedding off. Olly is devastated, of course, and launches into a hilarious rendition of Don’t Leave Me This Way. And even though it’s supposed to be funny, you can’t help but feel sorry for him.

It soon becomes clear that Lorraine isn’t all that sure she should have called off the wedding after all, but her friends assure her she’s done the right thing and then goes on to talk her into not letting her honeymoon tickets go to waste. So the three of them pack their bags and head off to the vibrant Club Tropicana Hotel in Spain. But, shortly afterwards Olly’s best man and his mate decided he could do with a holiday to take his mind off of being jilted at the altar, and the three boys end up at the exact same hotel as the girls!

Once the story was all set up, Joe McElderry made his first appearance on stage, much to the delight of the audience. Talking directly to us as Garry the hotel entertainments manager, he got us all up on our feet and taught us a quick dance routine. At first, I thought he might struggle to get people to participate, but he proved me wrong, and the people of Nottingham were soon up on their feet, dancing and laughing along with him.

The action then moves to the Spanish hotel run by long-time friends Serena (Amelle Berrabah), and Robert (Neil McDermott), who are in the running for a local hotel competition that they are keen to win. They were expecting the arrival of a hotel inspector and were on the lookout for anyone out of the ordinary. They quickly identify Christine (Emily Tierney) as a likely suspect as she seemed to be asking a lot of questions about how the hotel was organised, as well as moaning about things like the floor in the lobby being too slippery after it had been cleaned. She made a big point about there needing to a sign, so the hotel cleaning lady, Consuela (Kate Robbins), muttered that there was a sign, and then stuck her fingers up at her behind her back. This went down an absolute treat with the audience, and from hereon in, Consuela became a firm favourite with them.

One of the first things I noticed during Act 1 was just how stunning the scenery was. I can’t remember much about the 80s as I was very young back then (born in ’84) but from what I remember about going on holiday abroad the decor and staff uniforms were very similar to what we saw on stage last night. I genuinely felt like we were staying in a hotel where we were going to have a blast. I also liked that the scenery stayed the same throughout most of the show and that the cast just moved things around as they needed to, rather than having to wait ages for a scene change.

Club Tropicana has lots of brilliantly funny moments, from Consuela singing Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue in the funniest Spanish accent, to Garry lending the boys (who’d lost their luggage at the airport) a bag of ‘casual’ spare clothes for them to use while they were on holiday so they ended up looking like they’d just stepped out of The Village People once they’d got changed! Both me and my mum were chuckling along with the rest of the audience from start to finish.

One of the highlights of the show for me was when Garry got the holidaymakers playing Blind Date, as it’s one of the very first shows I remember watching as a kid. And the way it was done was very clever as it led to Lorraine and Olly finding out that they were staying at the same hotel. Yes, it was slightly cheesy and predictable (you could see what was coming a mile off) but it worked. And it worked well.

I think it’s safe to say that this is the campest role I’ve seen Joe in as well. And, along with the rest of the cast, he seemed to really enjoy the show and the reaction from the audience. The cast worked fantastically well together on stage, and the singing and dancing was well put together and energetic. At one point I wanted to get up there and join them as they seemed to be having such a great time!

The show is chock full of incredible 80s hits that you’re bound to know and love, including Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Oops Upside Your Head, Take On Me, Just Can’t Get Enough, Feels Like I’m In Love and loads more! I particularly like that they’ve included The Lion Sleeps Tonight, which Tracey sings to Olly when she’s supposed to be asking him if he can forgive Lorraine for ruining their big day but decides to make a play for him instead. The audience were in absolute stitches at the scene unfolding on stage.

But it’s actually the beautiful Amelle Berrabah who stole the show for me on this occasion. She has an absolutely stunning voice – both when she’s singing and when she’s delivering her lines. It’s so soothing I could listen to her talk all day. And I really liked her character, Serena, too. It was clear to see that she’d always loved the Hotel Tropicana and would do anything to make it the go-to place to stay. And it was also clear to see that she had a major crush on her workmate, Robert (Neil McDermott) by the way she found any excuse to touch him. Robert couldn’t see this, of course, so it had us rooting for them from the start. I believe that Club Tropicana is the first musical Amelle’s ever starred in, but I honestly don’t think it will be her last. She’s a real star and I think she’ll go far on the stage.

And, finally, if there’s one thing I’ve learnt from regularly going to see shows at The Theatre Royal, it’s that the Nottingham crowd can be a hard bunch to please. So when the cast got a standing ovation at the end I knew it was well deserved. And on the way out I overheard loads of people say how much they’d enjoyed the show, even though it wasn’t really what they were expecting it to be. And if you asked me to go and see it again tonight? I’d most definitely say yes. It’s such a feelgood musical that has your toes tapping from start to finish. I absolutely loved it!

SUMMARY

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the show. I liked the fact that it included some real ‘old school’ comedy and you don’t have to think too hard or have to explain the jokes to your friends afterwards. It’s well paced, and full of memorable songs that you’ll then find yourself singing for days. It’s good, light-hearted fun. And you can’t get better than that.

So, if your still ‘Making Your Mind Up’ and ‘Just Wanna Have Fun’, don’t be ‘Too Shy’ to get yourself over to Nottingham, take a seat and ‘Relax’. I promise that by the end ‘You Just Can’t Get Enough’ of this show. It’s fantastic!

Club Tropicana is running at Nottingham’s Theatre Royal until Saturday 13th July 2019, before continuing on its tour around the UK. Tickets for the shows can be booked by clicking here.

Have you guys seen Club Tropicana yet?
If so, let me know what you thought of it in the comments below.
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I was kindly given 2 tickets to Club Tropicana in exchange for an honest review

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